French Rafale-M Jets to Take Part in Indian Navy’s Ski-Jump Carrier Launch Tests

The Rafale-Maritime (Rafale-M) fighter jet, built by French company Dassault Aviation is headed to India to begin tests under the Navy’s project to buy deck-launched combat fighter for its new 40,000-ton carrier INS Vikrant (Indigenous Aircraft Carrier 1).

The Rafale-M is pitted against F/A-18e/F Super Hornet.

Trials of the former are planned to start on January 6 at Indian Naval Station (INS) Hansa in Goa state, which includes the Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF), with a ‘ski jump’ ramp replicating that found on Indian Navy carriers, Indian media reported.

The Rafale-M will be put through rigorous trials for around 12 days at the 283m mock-up ski jump facility. It would apparently be the first time that the jet will prove its compatibility with a ski jump ramp, used in lieu of catapult launch gear in the short take-off but arrested recovery (STOBAR) concept of operations. The SBTF also replicates the carrier recovery process, with arrester wires on the runway for landings.

INS Vikrant is being constructed by the Cochin Shipyard. It is currently taking part in sea trials near the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, and will reportedly enter service in mid-August this year.

The Rafale-M is designed to operate from the French Navy’s nuclear-powered Charles De Gaulle aircraft carrier which is configured with catapult launch gear. It is also the only non-U.S. fighter cleared to operate from U.S. carriers. India already has a Rafale maintenance and flight training centre at Ambala Air Force Station in Haryana.

Rafale-M’s competitor, the Super Hornet, will begin tests at the same facility in March. Its latest Block III form has already participated in some high-profile ski jump operations using the ground-based ramp at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland.